The Vancouver Bandits and Connect FM are proud to announce the continuation of their groundbreaking partnership to broadcast select 2025 Bandits home games in Punjabi, marking the second straight season of inclusive, community-driven basketball storytelling on air. In 2024, the Bandits and Connect FM made history by becoming the first team in Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) history to deliver a live Punjabi radio broadcast on June 1, 2024. This milestone moment resonated with fans across the Lower Mainland and the global South Asian diaspora, creating space for representation, access,

Warm temperatures have arrived across much of British Columbia, with Environment Canada issuing a special weather statement in the North Thompson. It says "above seasonal temperatures" are expected throughout the day in the Interior region where a ridge of high pressure is ushering in warm air from the south. The bulletin says that air will linger throughout the day, causing temperatures to rise to more than 30C, before cooler air arrives Thursday, lowering temperatures to near seasonal values. Temperatures are meanwhile expected to hit 24C in Vancouver, 23C in Victoria and 30C in Abbotsford,

The BC Wildfire Service has announced open fire bans that will prohibit most burning activities in most coastal areas of the province, with exceptions for Haida Gwaii. The ban on Category 2 and Category 3 open fires in the Coastal Fire Centre comes into effect at noon Friday, and the service says it's being imposed to reduce the risk of wildfires. The service says the ban will remain in place until Oct. 31 or until it is rescinded. Category 1 campfires that are no more than half a metre high by half a metre wide will still be allowed, as well as cooking stoves. The bans cover west of the Coast

British Columbia's Labour Ministry says the province's lowest paid workers are getting a pay bump as of Sunday. It says the minimum wage will increase from $17.40 to $17.85 an hour. The ministry says the 2.6 per cent increase also applies to pay rates for resident caretakers, live-in home-support workers, live-in camp leaders and app-based delivery and ride-hail services workers. The government says it has made regular, gradual increases to the minimum wage to provide certainty for workers and predictability for businesses. It says this is the fourth year of the government's ongoin

The Carney government has fulfilled its promise of GST relief. Now first-time buyers buying new homes worth up to a million dollars will save $50,000. In addition, the GST on new homes priced between $1 million and $1.5 million has also been reduced for first-time homebuyers. In this regard, Finance Minister Francois Philippe Champagne tabled legislative proposals for changes to the Excise Tax Act today. According to government figures, this rebate will save Canadians $3.9 billion in taxes over the next five years. People who are buying a new home from a builder will qualify for this rebate. T

Construction of a 10,000-seat stadium in Surrey is set to begin in 2027. Mayor Brenda Locke says there is a lot of interest from potential partners. The city council included the project in Surrey’s proposed five-year financial plan in late March. The mayor acknowledged that the project will cost a lot, saying that “we are very conscious of that and we will try to make sure that it does not put a huge burden on our taxpayers.” The mayor also said that the council’s idea is to build a hotel and conference facilities near the city centre in downtown, which is going to be the Surrey S

A Nanaimo, B.C., man has been sentenced to five years in prison and a lifetime firearm ban after an investigation triggered by the discovery of illegal silencers at Vancouver International Airport. The Canada Border Services Agency says officers intercepted three firearm suppressors at the airport in 2022, then in May 2023, CBSA and RCMP members executed search warrants at a residence and two vehicles in Nanaimo. The CBSA says officers seized illicit drugs and multiple firearms including two untraceable ghost guns, a prohibited shotgun, a rifle with a suppressor and two non-restricted rifles.

A First Nations leader says the "era of trust" with the government of B.C. Premier David Eby is over if two bills responding to American tariffs pass this week. Chief Don Tom of the Tsartlip First Nation in Greater Victoria says First Nations will do everything in their legal power to kill bills 14 and 15, adding that First Nations will remember the actions of the government at the next election. Tom says at a protest in downtown Victoria steps away from the legislature that this won't just apply to the Premier himself, but every MLA who votes for the bills. The government says Bill 15 is need

A recent enforcement initiative by the Langley RCMP has highlighted a dangerous case of excessive speeding in a residential neighborhood near Wagonwheel Crescent and 56th Avenue. On May 24, 2025, officers observed a red Ferrari travelling at 124 km/hr in a posted 50 km/hr zone, with a second radar reading of 123 km/hr recorded just 97.9 meters away. This level of speed in a residential area poses a significant risk to public safety. A 48-year-old Surrey man was fined $483 for excessive speeding, and the Ferrari he was driving was impounded for seven days. Driving at such excessive speeds in ne